Air travelers of the future could have quieter, greener and more fuel-efficient airliners because of NASA research efforts that are moving into further development and testing.

The Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project, which is part of the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate's Integrated Systems Research Program, was created in 2009 to explore aircraft concepts and technologies that will reduce the impact of aviation on the environment over the next 30 years.

During the first phase of ERA, engineers assessed dozens of broad areas of environmentally friendly aircraft technologies and then matured the most promising ones to the point that they can be tested together in a real world environment. Those experiments included nonstick coatings for low-drag wing designs, laboratory testing of a new composite manufacturing technique, advanced engine testing, and test flights of a remotely piloted hybrid wing body prototype.

"With the start of phase two, we will be able to take what we've learned and move from the laboratory to more flight and ground technology tests," said Fay Collier, ERA project manager based at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. "We have made a lot of progress in our research toward very quiet aircraft with low carbon footprints. But the real challenge is to integrate ideas and pieces together to make an even larger improvement. Our next steps will help us work towards that goal."

NASA has chosen eight, large-scale integrated technology demonstrations to advance ERA research. The demonstrations are designed to further the project's goals of simultaneous reduction in the amount of fuel used, the level of noise and the emissions produced by tomorrow's commercial transport planes.

UHB Engine Integration for a Hybrid Wing Body: Verification of power plant and airframe integration concepts that will allow fuel consumption reductions in excess of 50 percent while reducing noise on the ground.

Key to ERA research is industry partnerships. Each of the demonstrations will include selected industry partners, many of which will contribute their own funding. “We are excited that ERA’s research portfolio provides a healthy balance of industry and government partnerships working collaboratively to mature key technologies addressing ERA’s aggressive fuel burn, noise and emission reductions goals for tomorrow’s transport aircraft,” said Ed Waggoner, Integrated Systems Research Program director.

The technology demonstrations are expected to begin next year and continue through 2015.

The ERA project is one of many NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate programs and projects working to develop technologies to make aircraft safer, faster and more efficient, and to help transform the national air transportation system. That research is being conducted at NASA Langley, NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

A semi-span jet model is scheduled to be tested in NASA Langley's 14-by-22 Foot Subsonic Wind Tunnel this winter to evaluate aircraft noise reduction technologies as part of the Flap and Landing Gear Noise Reduction Flight Experiment.